Seeking medical care in a foreign country is far from being a new trend. In fact, travelling abroad for treatment, advice, support, care or surgery became commonplace over the past few decades.
There are different reasons to seek healthcare abroad depending on the country you live in. For example, some countries do not offer certain treatments, with some procedures being outlawed. In other places, waiting lists for procedures for certain treatments are very long and costs can be exorbitantly high. These reasons are usually catalysts for individuals seeking treatment overseas.
Health Insurance Cover
In addition to the reasons stated above, health insurance plays a part in medical tourism. With insurance policies around the world not covering certain procedures or accident cover, a way for this to be overcome is to go abroad and find a cheaper solution. Having said that, insurance should be high on your agenda when travelling, as accidents and illness can still happen when seeking medical treatment for other concerns. For example if choosing to partake in medical treatment in a location where tropical diseases are a high risk, you should ensure that your travel insurance covers this. When having surgery or any other treatment, your body is vulnerable and any disease could harm you before, during or after.
Cosmetic Surgery
With an increase in the popularity of cosmetic surgery there has been an increase in travelling to seek procedures. Reasons for seeking surgeries abroad are lower costs, as well as the complexity of requests. For example Armenia is known for offering high-quality, low-cost procedures, as well as having practitioners willing to perform complex surgeries which are uncommon elsewhere. Other destinations that are popular for cosmetic surgery include South American countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica as well as Turkey, Thailand and Ukraine.
High Tech Treatments
South Korea is a well-sought-after travel destination for medical treatment. This is because it offers extremely high-quality treatments, both surgical and non-surgical. Surgically, South Korea was one of the first to adopt less invasive treatments using robotic-driven surgery. At the other end of the spectrum, South Korea has clinics that lead non-surgical procedures, specifically for spinal injuries, as well as the use of Oriental medicine as treatment rather than surgery.
Fertility Tourism
Unfortunately not all health insurance policies cover fertility treatments, therefore medical treatments abroad are more attractive. Barbados in particular offers low cost and high-quality reproductive and fertility services, with a high amount of medical tourists seeking treatment to conceive.
Dental Work
No matter where you live, dental work can be costly if you haven’t looked after your teeth. If you are looking for cheap dental work, look no further than Hungary. With extremely high standards of dental care, more dentists per capita than any other country and low costs, it is the perfect destination for your dental issues.
Oncology
Singapore is a popular destination among western medical travelers for healthcare, because there are specialist oncology centres, as well as stem cell therapies and sports medicine. In addition to this, Singapore is reputed for being extremely clean and modern, as are its healthcare facilities.
There’s No Place Like Home
Malta has been a tourist destination for a long time, for both medical and leisure reasons. Malta offers medical tourists a great range of attractions for healthcare, including short distances from the airport to healthcare facilities; a lovely climate for recuperation; healthcare standards exceeding EU requirements; a wide range of treatments; specialists who trained in the USA and UK and a range of private clinics and hospitals to choose from. If your health insurance is up to date, you can have access to these great facilities that others are willing to travel to from overseas to avail themselves of the treatments and services they offer.